As you may know Alstromeria are one of my favourite cut flowers. They are long lasting, showy and easy to arrange. The flowers in the Mothers day vase probably came from Columbia but it makes me resolve to grow more varieties locally this year.

A disaster happened in the garden this week 2008 when a clump of red Alstromeria were dug over by accident and the fleshy roots were chopped to bits. As they tend to be deep rooted I hope all is not lost. It is a warning to watch where you dig when herabaceous plants have withdrawn into the soil for winter.

Now in retrospect I know more about the fleshy roots. They are not crucial to survival. The plants survived and have clumped up very well. I was encouraged to buy some more named varieties from Hayloft plants. They arrived this week.
Spitfire, Callisto, Cahors, Sirus and Saturne are the varieties I chose. Red, orange, pink yellow orange and shocking pink respectively all with the yellow flecked petals.

There is some excellent information on Alstromeria species on the Pacific Bulb Society site.